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Interview: De Beers to see solid growth of Chinese diamond jewelry market: executive

Source: Xinhua | March 22, 2015, Sunday | Online Edition

After the 6 percent growth of China's diamond jewelry sales in 2014, retailers in this industry would continue to see another year of solid growth in 2015, as the market is boosted by the process of urbanization as well as increasing number of middle class, said Stephen Lussier, Executive Vice-President of Marketing at De Beers Group of Companies.

Global diamond jewelry sales increased by 3 percent to a new record high of 81 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, as the main markets including the United States, China and India saw a steady growth, according to an industry insight report published Friday by De Beers.
   
Compared to the average increasing rate of the past decade, China sales growth was clearly slower, but since Chinese market now is much bigger and mature than 10 years ago, the 6 percent increase is still solid, said Lussier in an interview with Xinhua.
   
According to the survey of China's retailers, the expectation consensus is that the Chinese market will continue to see a strong growth, mainly boosted by the tier two and tier three cities, Lussier noted. 
   
In 2014, the diamond jewelry sales in Chinese tier three cities saw a double digit increase, data showed.   
   
"Desire for quality diamond jewelry among Chinese consumers is extraordinarily high, and diamond remains the number one desired luxury product," he said. 
   
The growing income of the expanding middle class and urbanization process of China are the two key factors that pushing forward the consumers' affordability and expenditure on luxury goods, said Lussier.
   
"Chinese consumers are probably the most quality-orientated consumers, and they are very knowledgeable on the diamond, and they seek the best qualities ... The Chinese consumers also tend to be more brand-focused in the jewelry sector than the other markets," he said.
   
Currently, the United States takes up a share of 42 percent of global polished diamond demand, followed by China (16 percent), India (8 percent), the Gulf (8 percent) and Japan (5 percent), data by De Beers showed.
   
De Beers, established in 1888, is one of the major players in the diamonds industry. 

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